A Bradford mum insists she saw three “absolutely huge” crocodiles swimming off the coast of Yorkshire - despite experts claiming her supposed sighting was “vanishingly unlikely”.

Sarah Craven, 40, was on a family camping holiday when spotted what she believes to be the powerful, flesh-eating predators swimming in the sea off Filey.

The special effects make-up artist said the reptiles, comprising two adults and a baby, were “massive”, with the largest measuring 12ft (3.6m) in length.

And she said her two stepchildren and partner had “100 per cent” verified the sighting, as they could see the powerful animals' legs “moving” below the water.

But now Dr Angela Julian, from the Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK, has said that Sarah’s sighting could actually be a “log” or bits of “plastic”.

And she dismissed the idea that crocodiles - normally native to tropical climates - could be living in chilly UK waters.

Social media users said they thought the objects in the water were rocks, with one quipping: "This is a great example of city folk leaving the city and their tv with no idea what's beyond the city walls."

Dr Julian said: “It’s vanishingly unlikely. There are no crocodiles in European waters. Why would they be swimming in the North Sea?

“People send me all sorts of photos, showing strange-looking creatures, but most turn out to be bits of plastic.

“It’s something inexplicable, but I don’t know what. Lots of crocodiles turn out to be logs. It’s a running joke as a crocodile spotter.”

Sarah, from Bradford, made the sighting after she arrived with her partner and two step-children at the Blue Dolphin Holiday Park for a short holiday.

She said: “We went on holiday, and it was a last-minute thing. And when we got there, before we set up the tent, we went up to the top of the cliffs to see the sea.

“It was about 5.30 pm when we got to Blue Dolphin Holiday Park, and we’d just escaped from work to get away on a family holiday.

“We first saw dolphins - but then my son spotted a crocodile below, and as we climbed down, it started to swim.”

Sarah said she saw three crocodiles in total - which looked like a small family unity - with the largest measuring roughly 12ft in length.

She said: “They were absolutely huge. The biggest we could see might be 12ft. There was a mother and father one, and then there looked to be a smaller one in the middle.

“I could definitely see the front and back legs moving.”

Sarah said that she and her family were “100 per cent sure” that they had seen three crocodiles, and said experts would likely dismiss her claims so as not to scare people.

She said: “I’m 100 per cent sure they were crocodiles, and my partner and both children feel the same.

“Experts would say it’s not possible, but they would say that because they wouldn’t want to put the fear factor on tourists.

Dr Julian agreed that it was possible that the crocodiles could have been “put” in the water, but she said most sightings of strange creatures turned out to be false.

She said: “It’s possible for the crocodiles to be there because somebody put them there.

“Often with sightings, there is something, but it usually turns out to be something completely different.”

Crocodiles are normally native to tropical regions of Africa and Asia, along with Australia and the Americas.

They live in a range of wetlands and some salt water regions, but need warm climates to survive because they are cold-blooded.